Emmys Producer Done+Dusted Appoints Melanie Fletcher as CEO for North America

Longtime Done+Dusted partner Melanie Fletcher has been promoted to CEO of North America, recognizing her shift over the past several years to oversee the production company’s business growth. Fletcher’s promotion comes as D+D prepares to produce the 74th Emmy Awards for NBC next month, as well as upcoming specials such as ABC’s Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter and Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Anniversary. Celebration” and “The Kennedy Center Honors” for CBS.

Leading D+D’s US operations, she will focus on expanding the company’s performance in the development of original IP, series, brands, live specials, games and experiences. Fletcher, who has been with D+D since its inception, most recently served as Chief Operating Officer.

“Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, Melanie is freaking awesome,” said Hamish Hamilton, co-founder, TV director and Emmy nominee of D+D. “She has been a real driving force in our company for many years. Her vision and leadership and kind of motivational qualities are unparalleled. That’s really why we decided to unleash them even more in the growing world of our business. People really love her and her ability to inspire, motivate, lead and also organize.”

As diversity wrote in January, D+D has spent the past two years penetrating new markets, including original series and specials, immersive experiences, brand showcases, and gaming-related programming. According to Fletcher, the company produced 33 shows in 2020 and 38 programs in 2021 through its US, UK and Middle East offices.

“I have to look closely at the company’s vision and our vision for the future, especially given that the media and entertainment space continues to change at a rapid pace,” said Fletcher. “So my focus now is finding our whitespace in all of this and then helping the other partners advance their interests. We’re lucky to a degree in that we all had different interests. My job now is to drive the business forward.”

In particular, there is a need to create internal IP, she added. “For a long time we weren’t an IP-generating company. We were an intellectual property company where we were gifted the most valuable intellectual property in the world to create stories and spectacles,” said Fletcher. “We are entrusted with this IP. And I think that’s really our superpower, but we often think, why don’t we generate our own intellectual property? So the focus is IP creation and we now have a development team that is very strong in the market with half a dozen concepts in series and specials which we’re really excited about.

“But the most important focus for us is actually quality control,” she said. “It’s great to expand. It’s great to do more work, but we’re known for our quality. So part of my job is really working with the growing teams on how to produce the Done+Dusted way, which has to be top-notch content quality. We will never let that waver.”

The role of CEO means Fletcher will have to step down from executive production – which she admits will be difficult given the fun of it. Her work includes the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as concert films featuring major artists such as Coldplay, the Rolling Stones, Adele, Madonna, Shakira, Pink, Shawn Mendes and Sam Smith.

As COO, Fletcher was instrumental in helping D+D make the transition in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was really tough in the early days of COVID,” Hamilton said. “We are an events company. It looked really bad. I mean, honestly, there were tears, there was fear. There were families and single-family houses on the route. We came together as a group, as a family, and found a solution. With a lot of hard work and innovation and a bit of luck, it has really turned our business around. At its core were seven people, making 27 combined around the world. We came out of it much stronger, much better as a company, much closer together as a unit. We definitely feel stronger together. And in a way, part of that announcement is Mel taking her rightfully named, respected, allotted place. It has a formality now that may not have existed in the past, although somehow we knew it to be true.”

Fletcher will remain based in Done + Dusted’s Los Angeles offices, while Simon Pizey will assume overall leadership of the company as Group CEO, while also leading the UK, Europe and Middle East operations. In addition to Hamilton, other partners include President Ian Stewart, Executive Producer Katy Mullan, Executive Producer Guy Carrington and Executive Producer David Jammy.

“It’s amazing to have someone in our family as talented and unique as Mel,” said Hamilton, who received his seventh Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special (for “The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent 🙂 at the Emmys this year. “And she’s going to go out there, throw it down, and she’s going to take this company to the next level. And you know, as brothers and sisters, we stand right behind her and couldn’t be prouder or more supportive.”

In taking on the CEO gig, Fletcher said it was also important to represent herself as a woman in a male-dominated space. “In our niche business of live entertainment, there are very few women in the C-suite, especially in independent production companies,” she said. “I’ve been in the business since I was young and I feel compelled to be a leader on this front, to show other women that they should know their worth and push forward. It’s the age old adage, “Take a look.” That’s what I’m most proud of, that I kind of forged this path, now that I’m hoping other people will think, ‘I have this. I will do it.’ I think the industry is changing, which is great news for everyone.”